What if The New Warriors defeated Nitro?
by ironhand48
Summary: A one off WHAT IF? The New Warriors were the cause of the Civil War, but what if Stamford never blew up? Find out here!Epilogue added
1. Chapter 1 of 1

WHAT IF... THE NEW WARRIORS DEFEATED NITRO?

"...you're playing with the big boys now!"

Namorita could feel the heat ripple out of Nitro, his body glowing red with translucency as he rapidly convered himself to kinetic energy. The MGH coursing through Nitro's system was having a narcotic effect; his head throbbed with the power that he was marshalling with a maddening rush. Through the heat and the sound of crackling air and combustion, she could hear the villain laugh, while giving her an all knowing smile, as if to say, 'You have been set up.'.

"GET DOWN!" Bellowed a voice from behind. Atlantian pride normally prohibited one to be ordered around as such, much less a princess of one of the most powerful nations on Earth. But when it came from the voice of their leader Night Thrasher, and had the urgency of either follow his order or die, Namorita did not argue. She cleanly dove to the side as far as her winged feet could launch her, unsure that it would be enough to escape Nitro's blast.

From the look of the old villain, he was about ready to go nuclear and it wouldn't be enough.

"I hope you have a plan, Thrasher." She doubted to herself.

"GET DOWN!" Dwayne Taylor screamed at Namorita upon seeing Nitro charge up his final explosion. While the Atlantian complied, Night Thrasher recalled what intelligence they had on Nitro. A mutant, with the ability to explode, and Namorita was in his blast radius. To order her away, Thrasher hoped she would be out of range of his attack, but to see Nitro glow with heat and scream to the winds, feeling the surge in temperature even from the backyard of the villain's hideout, he felt as if there was something his research missed out.

Ignoring the containment of the unconcious Coldheart for a moment, he snatched the one Battle Stave that wasn't destroyed by the villainess. Activating a switch on the trudgeon, he threw it in a spinning arch, whistling from air resistance and crackling as its internal battery electrified the surface of the weapon. When it impacted with Nitro's skull, the blow was only enough to glance and hardly enough to hurt, but with the weapon one big spinning tazer, the Battle Stave shocked Nitro, his body twitching and spasming on contact.

As he was shocked, Nitro's glow began to subside as he turned to normal. 

"SPEEDBALL! NITRO! GO!" Thrash ordered, launching a second weapon, a new addition to his Mark 3 armour. A capsule was launched that airbursted in front of Nitro's face. The powerful, powderized drup covered the villain like flower, leaving him to gag and cough over the substance. Nitro's knees sank to the ground as the last of his built up explosive charge started to dissipate. 

Speedball, with his ability to repel kinetic force, bounced himself from the villain's backyard to the crumpled schoolbus where Nitro was slowly depleting. "On it, boss-o-mine!" He yelled out in his distorted voice. Bouncing and skipping like a stone over the pavement, he nimbly kept track of his enemy while keeping evasive to confuse his opponents. Three bounces sidestepping and Speedball suddenly lunged at Nitro, his feet lashing out to kick the villain in the stomach.

"Game... set... MATCH MOTHER..." Speedball cajoled, then added a florishing censor to the end of his sentence by adding to the considerable damage to the bus that Namorita trashed shoving Nitro in the first place.

It was more than enough for even Nitro to handle. His head impacting against the bus, he fell unconcious on the pavement.

"So... did we win yet, Thrash my man?" Speedball mockingly joked.

The New Warriors gathered what remained of the villains. Nitro, unconcious and covered in white powder, Coldheart out cold and handcuffed without her weapons, Cobalt Man being dragged by the massive Microbe and with his armour rusted into ruin, and Speedfreak, who sported a cut lip and a black eye from Speedball's assault.

In the adjacent schoolyard ahead, children started to gather around to see what was going on. The teachers kept them at a distance, but the sound of their excitement was just the same. Declarations of 'Awwww, cool!' and 'What was that?!' were common, but the tone spoke of adoration and awe.

Namorita collected herself, dusting off her swimsuit while joining the group. "We did it." She said in agreeance to the rest of The New Warriors, "We really did it."

"We sure did..." Night Thrasher, throwing Nitro on the pile of villains they collected at the road, "...we sure did. All that time travelling, nothing to show for it, team members leaving..."

"And now we're in the big leagues." Microbe smirked as kids started to cheer.

"Yeah..." Speedball, caught up in the excitement, waved to the kids, "We're in the big leagues now..." He turned to the cameraman, "Hey, can you guys get a pan shot of those kids cheering us on? That's gonna make us look reaaalllllyyy good."

"Tonight's main story on KAYI's News at 9, a supervillain ring has been busted by superhero TV stars The New Warriors. "

He watched the news unfold as a distraction to his daily work. When he was in the position he earned after years of hard work and strife, watching the news was both a luxury his time couldn't afford and a necessity his enterprises couldn't do without. He watched this special luxury, however, with only business in mind.

"The super criminals known as Nitro, Coldheart, Cobalt Man and Speedfreak were apprehended by the TV stars in a raid on their safehouse in Stamford earlier today, during a filming of their latest season of The New Warriors reality TV show. Virtual unknowns outside the superhero community, Night Thrasher, Namorita, Microbe and Speedball were able to take on the criminals, all four being on the FBI's most wanted list."

He paid special attention to the news because tonight it had to do with his other business. He most paid attention to the superhero articles, and this one related to his business like no other.

"When KAYI's Trisha Chen caught up with the Warrior's leader Night Thrasher in a banquet held in their honour at Stamford Community Hall, he had this to say..."

With the pertinent information gained, he turned the television off with disgust.

He leanred what he needed to learn, and he did not like what he heard.  
Stamford Community Hall

While Stamford wasn't much in the way of towns, their hospitality was bigger than most large cities, and if there was one group to appreciate it, it was The New Warriors.

Thanks to The New Warrior's capture of the super criminals, Stamford's mayor and chief of police decided, as a thanks, to hold a dinner in the Warrior's honour. Those of note in the community were there to visit the heroes of the hour; local booster clubs, the chamber of commerce, lions, elks, scout clubs and local familes gathered at the benches and tables. There was a lineup at the rows of barbeques; people lined up to be served hotdogs and hamburgers.

As the heroes of the hour, The New Warriors were served first. Microbe was using his bacteria powers on a cup of yogurt to amuse a pack of children, while other kids were admiring Namorita's blue skin. Speedball, as the talker of the group, was regaling the bust to whomever would listen. 

Night Thrasher, as leader and face of the group, had to deal with the local media.

"I would like to let everyone know..." Night Thrasher spoke into the microphone the reporter thrust into his face, while under the eyes of a gathering locals, "...that though we are making a TV show, we are heroes first and foremost, and we are here for the public. Our latest apprehension of Nitro, Speedfreak, Cobalt Man and Coldheart is all part of our mission to stop super powered criminals from committing crime and endangering the public."

"And the fact that we're gettin' famous and gettin' paaaaaiiiiidddd is just a fringe benefit!" Speedball jested, with half a dinner roll in his mouth.

"Yeah... I admit that I was resistant to the reality tv show idea." Night Thrasher joked, "And there were times when I had my doubts. Even as of late we haven't had much in the way of a challenge... until today. It feels like we did something that mattered, and it feels good. Thank you."

"Amen! Lets eat!" Speedball declared, the other Warriors chiming in to have Night Thrasher join them for dinner.

Thrasher took his place at the centre table to eat, thankful for the moment alone with his team. Though he was happy about the performance of The New Warriors earlier in the morning, he had his lingering doubts about the raid in large. Tactically, it was far from perfect, being caught off guard by Coldheart and having to attack early. Cobalt Man and Speedfreak were easily dispatched, but only partially ready during the raid, and Coldheart would have been more of a challenge if Namorita and Thrasher did not double team on her.

Then there was Nitro, the most dangerous one of them all. In retrospect, he had a feeling their powers were mismatched against the dangerous mutant. If he hadn't ordered Namorita out of the way, if his battle stave wasn't electrified, if Speedball didn't capitalize on Nitro's lapse of judgement... there were alot of what ifs.

The what ifs were bothering Night Thrasher. He couldn't pull the mask off his face to eat, leaving his food to grow cold and ignored.

"You gonna finish that, mate?" Microbe politely asked.

Night Thrasher shook his head. Microbe grabbed his hamburger.

"Why the long face?" He asked.

Namorita laughed at the comment, noting smugly, "It is rather hard to see a long face with a mask behind it."

"Oh no man..." Speedball's distorted voice added in, "Thrashman's in deep thought. You work with him enough, you know. Weight of the world stuff going on in that masked noggin, right buddy?" He jovially slapped Night Thrasher on the back. "Relax! We saved the day and they're even giving us a barbeque. It's our due, man! Years of effort and we're now in the big time! Soak it up!"

"I don't like it." Thrasher muttered.

The statement brought the startled attention of his teammates.

"What?" Speedball indignantly sniffed, "You don't like fame? Fortune? Girls? Come on, Thrash! No more discount motor inns for our lodgings, no more canned crap for dinner, no more bargain basement villains. Big time! I love it."

"No, not that." Night Thrasher waved it off dismissively, "I could care less about the Hollywood treatment. I was thinking about the villains."

"The fact that we kicked their butts?" Namorita mentioned between mouthfuls of coleslaw.

"No." Thrasher countered, "The villains. Nobody found it odd that we spent the entire second season with barely anything to show for it, and then all the sudden we have four of the FBI's most wanted in one house in one small town that's barely on the map?"

"You know what you're problem is, pal?" Speedball quipped, a fried chicken drumstick waving dramatically in his hand, "You're worrying too much. You don't know when to enjoy a good victory. Hey, it wasn't perfect, but nobody else does it flawlessly. The fact is, we got the bad guys, and we're the heroes. Now enjoy, Thrashman!"

Though the gloom of Night Thrasher's thoughts kept the victory from becoming palatable, he had to agree with his long running protege.The result was that they gambled and won. To the public's eye, it was a superhuman bust where the bad guys lost, the good guys won, the good guys were rewards and a grateful public slept better for another night. Thrash could think about the number of what ifs that could be in every encounter he has faced, but he could not ignore the fact that The New Warriors did win. Was he underestimating his team's own skill, he wondered? They looked young, but Thrasher, Speedball and Namorita had been vigilantes for years, as was their former members like Nova and Firestar. Microbe was new, but he was learning fast with the group.

They had the start of a good group. If it wasn't for the reality show that funded their activities, it would have been a great group. It was no secret that not all The New Warriors alumni agreed with their latest endeavor, and it certainly didn't win points in the superhero community, but it was all he could do after The Taylor Foundation went bankrupt. He was worrying that it was turning the attention craving Speedball Hollywood, and even Namorita, like many Atlantians, was prone to give into her ego from time. Microbe didn't handle the camera that well, but kept himself grounded.

They were all small concerns. Otherwise when the team clicked, The New Warriors did well, just like today.

"You're right. We did well." He begrudgingly admitted, "Not excellent, but well, and we do deserve some downtime." He stood up, pulled his seat back in, and was ready to leave, "I'm going to step out for a bit."

"Oh?" Namorita raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Thrasher answered, "Fresh air."

Stamford Police Department, later that evening  
The old Stamford Police Headquarters was a three story, red brick affair, with fake ramparts and iron bars on the door to give the older building a fortresslike feel. In the night under the full moon, it was an imposing sight to see, a building that was meant to inspire some fear and awe to those that violated the law, and security for those following it.

Police stations were fairly easy to break in, Night Thrasher found in his experience. Small town police stations tended to have a skeleton staff at night and were only adept at keeping people inside. The only time any security systems would be on was when nobody was there to staff the building, or on evidence, cells and weapons lockers. Night Thrasher did not need access to all but the latter. The bars and the ramparts were only for show. Getting in would be easy.

There were three officers, he saw from observation, but they were not the problem. A local SHIELD team, with their high tech armour and weaponry that rivalled his own, arrived with five soldiers and a field agent to protect the supervillains until proper transport could arrive to take them to The Raft. One was on guard at the roof. The field agent was at their Humvee, parked in the police parking lot. Two agents were outside, patrolling the area. The superhuman containment carrier wouldn't arrive for another few hours.

That left two for the cells. Thrasher felt it was an acceptable risk.

He approached in the night from the roof, jumping from building to building, hiding when the SHIELD agent scanned his night vision in his line of sight. Popping out of cover, Night Thrasher lept from the neighboring building to the roof of the police station, ducking and rolling as his hand went to his battle stave. He flung the weapon just as the SHIELD agent was turning around, cracking through his armoured plexiglas helmet and knocking him to the ground.

As a precaution, he kicked away the soldier's weapon and handcuffed him to a pole. He saw the SHIELD soldier's radio and snatched it, before kicking out a ventilation grate and sliding inside.  
Inside the Cells

Stamford, being a small town, didn't have much in the way of incarceration. Solitary confinement cell and a group cell that could have held 10 people comfortably by prison standards. It was all a small town really needed.

But against supervillains? It was nothing.

But even nothing can turn into something when SHIELD came into town.

Nitro was admonishing himself for a job not so well done. Like Coldheart and Speedfreak, he was wearing power inhibiting restraints as a precaution, a former anti-mutant incarceration measure that SHIELD used as standard equipment with superpowered captures. Cobalt Man, without his armour, didn't need such precautions. Just in case, two SHIELD soldiers were guarding the villians, watching their moves.

Nitro almost wished for a break of the tedium.

"Did you see what that punk did to my armour?" Cobalt Man complained mightily, just as he did when he woke out of unconciousness, as he had been doing for the last twelve hours since they were captured. "I am not like Iron Man, who can make a million variants and improvements on his armour with all the billions he owns. I am just a scientist! I don't have his kind of money! I can't throw out a suit and make another one when it gets slightly scratched or obsolete. I've been using the same Cobalt Suit since the bloody 60's! The Cobalt Suit was the only one I had and the only one I will be able to make for ages! I am useless without it!"

"Please shut up." Nitro muttered.

"Like you're not in the same boat." Coldheart added, "They took my swords." 

"You can get another sword." Cobalt Man argued, "And usually my armour is confiscated, but that amateur Microbe rusted it completely out! I can't even salvage it."

"Like it matters if we can't escape. We blew it." Speedfreak commented, his hands in his head as if in deep grief, "Kiss freedom goodbye. Hello Raft, where we get to be Johnny Dio's..." 

"I said shut up!" Nitro bellowed.

Coldheart gave Nitro a hostile stare. "Like you are one to talk, Nitro. It was your idea to go to Stamford. Your idea to lay low in this hillbilly backwater. Your idea because the closest superhero help is in New York. Well, Mr. Bright Ideas, did you anticipate that we would get our butts kicked by a bunch of silly clowns in tights from a reality TV show?"

Nitro replied with a snarl between his teeth, "Well... I didn't anticipate the incompetence needed from you three to be beaten by them."

"Hey, they were pretty good." Speedfreak tried to add, "Did you see how that skinny little twerp hit me? My head is still ringing." 

Cobalt Man interrupted indignantly, "Come on! We were defeated by TV stars! The New Warriors, for christ sakes! That's supposed to stop us from being laughed at back in The Raft?!" 

"Hey! Keep it down!" One of the SHIELD soldiers ordered, gesturing his rifle at the cell to deliver his point with more effectiveness. It silenced the villains to a calmer level. "Keep it down, or we'll keep you down."

The lights started to flicker. It caught the guard's attention. "Old buildings." One guard said to the other, answered with an agreeing head nod, and added, "Keep your guard up. Who knows."

The guards looked up as the heard a clatter from the vents. "What the..." one managed to say in astonishment, as a booted foot cracked over his helmet. The other had a second more to react, but was meet with a trudgeon to the face. Both collapsed in a heap, their weapons clattering to the floor.

Cobalt man saw one of the energy assault rifles spin close enough to the cell. He reached out for it, saw his opportunity... only to have it kicked away from the same boot that dispatched the guard.

"Oh... hell no." Cobalt Man groaned, feeling as if the situation went from bad to embarrasing.

Coldheart added, "Bondage Queen."

"A pleasure to meet you too." Said Night Thrasher, from the other side of the cell.

It was more than enough for Nitro. Even with mutant grade restraints, he lunged at the cell, just out of reach of The New Warrior's leader. Still, Night Thrasher did not blink or flinch, watching Nitro's fingers just out of reach of his mask.

"What do you want now?!?" Nitro screamed with a wildness in his eyes, "You ruined it all for me!!! ALL FOR ME! You want to stand there and gloat?!?! HUH?!? Go ahead, tough guy, gloat! Once I get out of these restraints and out of this cell, you won't have the chance to lord over me because you'll be DEAD!" 

Night Thrasher crossed his arms, hardly impressed by Nitro's conduct. "I want answers."

"Why didn't you ask?" Coldheart said snidely, "You didn't need to beat up SHIELD guard to visit us."

Night Thrasher replied, "They weren't... forthcoming. The only way I could get a visit is if I snuck in."

"And now you want answers... to what?" Cobalt Man mocked, "We had no big plans but to stay away from the authorities. At least... I did. Did any of you?" He directed his question to the other three villains. Coldheart and Speedfreak shook their heads, "See? Nothing."

"Oh no..." Night Thrasher reached into his trenchcoat, fishing in his pockets for something inside, "There was something. At first I thought it was odd. We had nothing for the entire year, until we got an anonymous tip about some supervillains hiding out here. Then we find that they're on the FBI's most wanted and they are all together in one house? That was an odd coincidence."

"So? Haven't you heard of a supervillain group?" Coldheart retorted, "Maybe we got sick of you heroes always teaming up on us, decided to make the fight fair. Did you think of that?" 

"Actually... I did." Night Thrasher was finished fishing the items out of his pocket, keeping them hidden in his gloved hands, "But after the bust I took a look around the house before the police came in and cordoned it off. I found some very interesting things, you know. Very interesting things."

"Like what?" Speedfreak said, "We haven't done any crimes after we broke out of The Raft. You're just trying to frame us and make it more spectacular for your show, right? Come on, where's your cameraman? I knew this reality TV junk was fake..."

"There's no cameras." Night Thrasher said, "Though I might take the surveillance tapes for the show's benefit. "Just me and you all, telling you that I did find something interesting. It was in Nitro's room. Do you want to see what I found?"

Nitro wore a look of surprise on his face, which caught the attention of his supervillain compatriots, but for the time being was ignored as they paid close attention to the items in Night Thrasher's hands. Opening his fist, he revealed three empty vials and one full of an amber fluid, all glass with red stoppers. On one of the vials, Thrasher turned it around for the benefit of his audience. The label read 'MGH'.

"Care to explain?" Night Thrasher addressed the question to Nitro.

Nitro shot a look of unadulterated hostility at Thrasher. "Explain what?" He spat, "That I have a drug habit? Who in prison doesn't try drugs once in awhile?" 

"Wrong answer, Nitro." Night Thrasher explained, "This is Mutant Growth Hormone. Do you think I haven't heard of this stuff? It's designed to increase powers in mutants, and from what I remember you are a mutant. Now tell me, why would you, a mutant who's powers are to explode and reform himself, would want to take MGH?"

Nitro stayed silent, but the hesitation in the answer further betrayed his motives. "What? I can't get more powerful?"

"For what purpose?" Night Thrasher said frankly, "To make a bigger explosion for no reason at all? Come on Nitro. You had enough MGH to go nuclear. You think I didn't know that? You better come clean and tell me what you were planning on doing, or I'm going to do worse than give you the reputation of having your butt kicked by 'The Bondage Queen'."

"YOU SON OF A &#" Coldheart backhanded Nitro. He fell in a tangle of his restraint devices, "You were going to get us all killed, weren't you?!?! TELL HIM!"

Rather than be offended and hurt by Coldheart, Nitro grinned and giggled a madman's amusement. "You see... Coldheart figured it out..." He snickered, spitting a trickle of blood from his lip.

"You $!" She screamed as Speedfreak and Cobalt Man restrained her, "You talked about wanting to settle a few scores. You wanted us all to team together and take on some superheroes, get our revenge. That was all a lie to get us all killed, wasn't it?!?"

Nitro laughed, "I could have cared less if you lived or died. It wouldn't have mattered. All that mattered is a cluster of costumed screwups would walk in trying to take me down. That would be all that it took, all that it took..."

Night Thrasher spoke, "And if there was a big fight, you had enough MGH in you to turn everyone around you within a block radius into a smoking cinder. You would have killed everyone around you, including your friends and mine. So was that what you wanted to do? Kill The New Warriors? Kill the friends that broke you out of prison?"

Nitro sniffed with contempt, "So what if it is?"

"WHAT!?" Cobalt Man yelled in shock, "Lets kill the..."

"Hold it!" Night Thrasher cut in, "I want answers, and I don't have much time. Nitro, you can tell me now..." He then looked at the threesome of Coldheart, Cobalt Man and Speedfreak, "Or... I could leave you alone with your comrades and you can tell them." 

"Yeah... tell us." Coldheart cracked her knuckles. 

"No powers to save you now, Nitro." Speedfreak balled his fists together.

"Hah hah hah..." Nitro chuckled, enjoying the game that was being played out, "Are you sure you want to hear it? Alright... you guys want to know so badly. Thrasher... look at the bottles. They have the answers printed on them."

As he looked at the bottles, his eyes widened. 

"See? That's all you need to know." Nitro said, "You'll be able to figure it out from there."

Night Thrasher silenced Nitro with a hand gesture. His radio started to crackle. "Echo 1 to Echo 5. Report in."

"It looks like my interrogation is coming to a close." Night Thrasher announced, "I must go. It looks like you guys have a half minute before help arrives." He jumped at the vent and crawled in, leaving the grate and the unconcious guards behind, "If you don't let them know I was here, I'll give you the time to make the most of it."

"Oh trust me..." Coldheart cracked her knuckles, "We know nothing, and a half minute is all we need."

All three villains looked down on Nitro with a newfound contempt and the intent of a severe beating in their eyes. When the rest of the SHIELD team arrived minutes later, the entire team and the local cops on duty had to pry the villains away from Nitro. Though Nitro raved about a New Warrior coming to beat them all, the rest of the villain team were adamant that they didn't see anything.

THough there were some injuries from the three dispatched guards, they were minor, and chalked up to a rogue villain on a jail bust that was aborted. Hours later, the containment craft came to drive Coldheart, Cobalt Man, Speedfreak and a badly beaten Nitro to The Raft.

Night Thrasher was never spotted, the security footage mysteriously gone.

The New Warriors Headquarters, New York  
After the Stamford bust, or any bust if The New Warriors had any of note before, there was always the downtime that made the fodder of any reality tv show. So it was in their headquarters in New York, to take care of family, business and the media whom as of late have been clamoring to grab the superteam's attention.

Out of all The New Warriors that appreciated the reward for their efforts, none took to it as well as Speedball. Like a hyperactive child (an aftereffect of his kinetic powers), he literally bounced from interview to interview as The Warrior's 'face'. The fact that he was in headquarters, talking rapidly on his cellular phone to yet another interested party showed that it was a slow time for him. Microbe was watching television; the quietest one in the group, Microbe was less morose than in the past. The fact that he was coming out at all testified to his improvement, after losing his only father due to a misunderstanding of his powers.

Namorita arrived and was not in costume while in town. The swimsuit was impractical around town, and out there jeans, boots and a t-shirt did just as well. As the only female left in the group, she tended to flit between precociousness and responsibility, but today she was beaming. The source of her pride was an envelope under her arm. The cameramen turned their attention to the Atlantian as a diversion from the drudgery of leisure time.

"Call ya back, 'kay? See ya!" Speedball hung up the phone and exuberantly called to Namorita, "Hey Nam? How did it go?"

"How did it go?" She asked sarcastically, then with a smile that split her turquoise face, she opened the envelope and spilled out a dozen photographs. All the pictures were of Namorita, but in revealing clothing and suggestive poses. "How does 'World's Sexiest Atlantian' as voted by the Maxim Magazine staff sound to you?"

"Whoa whoa whoooo hooo!" Speedball flipped through the pictures, his eyes ready to burst out of his goggles. He examined one of the pictures like a jeweler appraising a fine diamond, and said "Yowza! Nam, did I mention how much I love you?"

"About every time you make a lewd comment about my swimsuit." Namorita jested, brushing off Speedball's lecherous asides.

Speedball replied, "Hey Nam, you know I respect you all the same, that and you and Squirrel Girl would slap me around like I was Doctor Doom if I looked at you the wrong way. So... when can I buy a stack for myself and a few hundred of my closest friends?"

"Next Month." Namorita answered, "And I'll get mine next week. Hey Microbe." She beckoned to her fellow Warrior, "Check out my pictures."

Microbe rose from his seat, his frame just shy of four hundred pounds which made a massive creaking when the couch was relieved of his weight. "I cannae see. She is a mate and all." He blushed a deep crimson.

"Awww... come on buddy. Take a look." Speedball presented a particularly interesting picture, of Namorita lounging on a silk sheet covered bed, a white negliee clinging to her skin, her white hair pooling around her blue shoulders. It caused Microbe to cringe back with embarrassment, "Come on... it proves a theory of mine that it it gets awefully cold in Atlantis..."

"Why you little cretin..."

Namorita was about to ball up her fist and test out Speedball's kinetic repelling powers, when Night Thrasher came out of his seclusion from upstairs. Underneath his mask, he was haggard and tired after a weeks investigation, but over the mask he was still their strong, indominable leader. He held the three vials of MGH in his hands.

"Warriors... group meeting." He stated like law.

The group gathered without complaint at the couch, Microbe sinking back to his spot, Namorita at the end, and Speedball bouncing to the middle.

"So bossman, what's up?" Speedball asked.

Night Thrasher deposited the three vials on the coffee table, each Warrior taking one to investigate, but without much affect except for inquisitive looks. "Mutant Growth Hormone. Its available on the black market, not often produced, and expensive as hell. Illegal in most countries and and a menace if given to the right mutant... like Nitro. If we didn't take him out he would have killed hundreds when he exploded. If we weren't careful... he would have killed us easily."

"Bloody hell." Microbe gasped, "I can't control this. It's hormone, not bacteria."

"So he doped up." Speedball remarked dismissively, "So what? We still caught him before he went nuclear."

Night Thrasher twisted and twined the vial up and down his fingers, "This stuff is rare and expensive. You need connections to get it, and it's not very profitable since there are only a hundred and ninety eight mutants left, a majority being law abiding and at the X-Mansion. That leaves only a five percent chance of any mutant wanting this. So we have two customers potentially. One of them is Nitro. Now, who is going to supply him? Who is going to bother to go to the expense of supplying him?" 

He turned the vial around, pointing to a small label, "Most drugs are created by legitimate pharmaceutical companies. THere are many illegal drugs that start out as legitimate experimental pharmaceuticals, such as methamphetamines. With that in mind, my theory was that a drug so rare and in demand by only a small segment of the population would have to be obtained by either a specialist with chemist knowledge from the company that made the drug... or the company itself. Look on the lable. What do you see?"

Microbe read it slowly, "Fumatsu... Pharmaceutical Company, Osaka Japan."

"Exactly." Night Thrasher said, "So I looked up Fumatsu Pharmaceuticals, investigated their role in creating MGH, and came up with nothing to confirm they gave MGH to Nitro themselves, so I looked up connections, who would have obtained it from Fumatsu, when I found some interesting coincidences." 

He produced some papers from his coat and laid them out on the coffee table. The diagrams and lists were too complicated for a cursory look, so he broke down the data in little time for his comrades, "I found that Fumatsu Pharmaceuticals have connections to other companies. There is some from Stark/Fugikawa Technologies, but it was nothing major. However... when a controlling interest is owned by Damage Control Inc., I became worried."

"Damage Control Inc?" Speedball said surprised, "You mean, the contractors in Iraq?"

"Not just that... it is pretty substantial. Damage Control Inc. gets a majority of their medical supplies from Fumatsu, including MGH when I looked through shipments... don't ask." He pointed to the diagrams, "They use the medical supplies in their reconstruction efforts, and that also includes damage control and repair during and after superhuman battles. They were there to fix up our fight in Stamford. They are always there to fix any superdamages in New York and LA. It is their business to clean up messes by superheroes and villains. Now think about it..." He said with all seriousness, "We just got in a fight. If Nitro detonated in Stamford..."

Namorita was the first to pick up the clue, "They would have to repair the damage."

"Whoa..." Microbe breathed. 

"Holy..." Speedball uttered a curse word under his breath, "Thrashman, you saying that Damage Control wanted Nitro to detonate just to make a quick buck?"

"Wait. That is if they were trying to make a quick buck." Namorita interrupted, "It could be coincidence."

"That was what I thought too... until I came across this." Night Thrasher flipped through his documents, and found a sheet of paper, and another, and another pile still. "Alot of their communications, manifests, shipping orders and logistics look odd. There is alot of resource shifting in the eastern seaboard, and some in the west as well. They ordered quadruple the amount of building supplies they ever go through for all major cities, and they set up new offices in a few areas they haven't had offices before. And guess where they set up one of their offices... Stamford."

"Wait... so, they were expecting this?" Speedball asked.

"Yes. How else can you explain the relocation of the entire New York reconstruction team three days from the bust to their local headquarters in Stamford? And the materials? Excavators, bulldozers, medical equipment, body bags... I saw the transfer manifests for myself. That's hardly a coincidence to me."

"Whoa..." Speedball said, "If what you're saying is true, Damage Control set this all up and are going to profit from it. Those... son of a..."

"Hold it Speedball. I'm not saying it." Night Thrasher said, "I'm saying the signs are pointing towards it. We need proof positive, and for that, we have to go to Damage Control..."

"And we're on in three... two... one..."

On a major network, and played all over the nation (as well as Canada and Mexico) in all timezones, The New Warriors TV show was on many tv sets that night after muscling its way into a better time slot after the Stamford bust. Its introduction was loud, exciting, brightly coloured, but held a suspense to it that lured the people on the other end of the TV to watch.

And there were watchers, from people at home, to people in power.

"I'm Microbe, and I control bacteria." Said Microbe, his profile fading in and out with his introduction, the background showing his bust of Cobalt Man, the armour rusting out.

"Namora Prentiss, and I am an Atlantian." In the background under a field of blue, she slammed Nitro into a schoolbus.

"Speedball, and I repel kinetic energy." Came the colourful member of the warrior, a flying kick sending Speedfreak into unconciousness.

"And I am Night Thrasher, and I am their leader." The background showed Thrasher in a strong, confident pose.

On the screen, the picture changes to a siloutted pose of the entire team, with their logo zooming in.

"The New Warriors are here!" All four members say in unison.

The episode's introduction was always accompanied by a narrator's breakdown of past events, to catch viewers up on recent events.

"In the last episode of The New Warriors, the supervillains Nitro, Speedfreak, Coldheart and Cobalt Man were apprehended before an inevitable disaster occurred. As a result, The New Warriors stock continues to rise and the members are enjoying their fame while taking a break in New York. However, not all of it is fun in games. Due to Night Thrasher's investigations, it was found that the bust was part of an even larger conspiracy. To find answers, The New Warriors are visiting Damage Control Incorporated, a company with connections to the superhero community and connections to the Stamford bust. After w week of planning and preparation and equipped with hidden cameras, The New Warriors are infiltrating Damage Control Inc. to find some answers...  
The Rooftops near Damage Control Inc.  
Namorita bounded from rooftop to rooftop, her Atlantian strength making the strenuous effort and easy task. In her one arm was a duffel bag, the other cameraman John Fernandez, complete with his own camera and kit. Her part of the plan was to get to the roof; her Atlantian blue skin and white hair didn't make for a good disguise when it came to infiltration.

She checked on the cameraman, and rather than having the human panic, he was using his camera to record their rooftop transit. Each time Namorita took a giant leap, Fernandez whooped like it was the ultimate thrill, and recorded it all on tape.

"Are you sure you're ok there?" Namorita yelled out through the rushing wind, making her final leap to Damage Control Inc.'s headquarters roof.

Fernandez replied, "Multiple tours in Baghdad and Bosnia and you're worried that I might not be ok? Trust me little lady, this is a plum assignment!"

She landed on the roof and deposited Fernandez on the ground. She smiled at the human. There was something to be said about such bravery despite a human's frailties. It was a trait that she respected.

Namorita adjusted the listening piece on her ear, and spoke into a small microphone. "Blue to red, I'm in position."

Damage Control Inc., Main Lobby  
"Good to hear from you Blue." Replied Dwayne Taylor, into a Bluetooth headset. With his black briefcase and gray pinstripe business suit, the civilian version of Night Thrasher looked a handsome sort, a businessman that looked like he belonged in such a corporate setting. "Your trip to the business meeting went well?"

"Without a hitch. Not a problem in sight." Namorita spoke through Night Thrasher's earpiece. "How was the job interview?" 

"They'll get back to me." Night Thrasher said the results of his previous infiltration, the one he left from, "But they looked enthusiastic. Loved my qualifications. If our current gig fails, I can always get a job at Damage Control."

"Funny." Namorita drolly commented, "Situation?"

"Rent-a-cops. Some areas have keycard access. Cameras everywhere. Nothing we can't handle. My gift?"

He heard the patting of the duffel bag, "The Mark IV is ok. Meet me on our date and you can try it out. How's Green and Hollywood?"

Dwayne Taylor had to laugh. The nicknames were a source of contention, but one out of harmless jesting of Speedball's ego. "They'll meet us on our date. I should be there in... five minutes?"

He waited during a long and awkward pause. "Good to go." Namorita said.

"Good. See you there. Don't put a scratch on her before I get to break her in." Dwayne made a motion as if to deactivate his bluetooth headset, headed to the elevator, and punched a button to go up to the highest floor.  
Basement, Damage Control Inc.  
"Man... I can't believe we got this job." Speedball complained. muscling his way between Microbe and three others on the elevator; no easy task with his fellow New Warrior's 380 pound frame.

It wasn't as if it was the starring role of the Damage Control infiltration job, and that was what rankled Speedball more than anything in the world. He had his hidden camera, he had his uniform on, but it was underneath the smock and coveralls of a janitor. He readjusted his cap bitterly, slinging a mop over a shoulder like a soldier's rifle.

Microbe slouched sullenly over his cleaning cart. "Y'know, we did have to get in somehow, and gettin' a job as a mop slinger helped. My bacterial beasties make me a natural at it. It nae so bad." 

"Easy for you to say..." Speedball groused, "I had to do it the old fashioned way. I know it's part of the plan, but geez... almost feels like Thrash' is trying to tell me something..." 

Speedball's hidden earpiece crackles from static, but the voice of Night Thrasher could easily be heard. "What I'm trying to tell you is that you're acting too rash and impulsive as of late. Fame is getting to you, my friend. It worries me."

Speedball leaned into his earpiece as the last non New Warrior exited, "Man, come on Thrash! I'm the face of this group. What do you expect me to do? Sit back and watch the show? I gotta be out there, in the centre of it all. Its what I am. It's what I do."

"Fine." Night Thrasher forgave his friend, "But Stamford could have just as easily gone their way. You jumped in first, and that worries me. So just remember for today. We go in, ask our questions, and find out why they set up Stamford. Nothing else. Don't go starting up any brawls unless someone attacks first. Got it?"

"Yeah... yeah... got it Boss." Speedball sulked, "You know I'm not going to start something that stupid."

"Good. Just remember that. Your position?"

Microbe replied, "We're almost there. Just have'ta change."

"Good. I'll be with you two in three minutes. Thrasher out."

"Right." Speedball released the mic in his ear as the elevator dinged, "That's our floor. Lets do this."

As soon as Speedball and Microbe left the elevator, they ditched the cleaning cart and mop, sneaking into a cleaning closet. There was much jostling and shoving, and a curse from Speedball as he complained about Microbe's excessive weight. All Microbe could do was apologize... or spit in Speedball's eye, where his powers could blind him by using bacteria to cut the optic nerves.

When it was all over, Speedball peered out of the closet, in full costume, when it was clear, he stepped out, his kinetic field bubbling and popping. Microbe came next, readjusting his goggles to look the other way.

"I guess Damage Control didn't get our message." Microbe joked.

"Yeah. The New Warriors are here." Speedball added.  
The next elevator over  
Dwayne Taylor waited, while the crowd inside the elevator thinned out. Grinning politely at a young intern whom was the last off on the 37th floor, he waited to see if anyone summoned the elevator. To his luck, nobody wanted to stop him on the higher floors, and there were no cameras in sight. Night Thrasher punched out the emergency escape hatch on the top and climbed his way up, careful to replace the hatch when he came out. Trapped in darkness that was lit by slivers of light, he was now in the elevator shaft. When he found the floor he wanted, he shimmied his way into the door, letting the elevator pass inches away from him. When it passed, he slunk down to the sliding doors, and used the emergency release to force the doors open. When he was done, he was near the roof access.

He was meet by Microbe and Speedball at the roof access. The door that stood between them and Namorita and Fernandez was number access card. Microbe gathers his lungs with a violent snorting sound, then with a gooey 'hock', he spits at the access panel and locking mechanism. It pops and fizzles, the metal rusts out and falls apart. The door then swings open, and Namorita and Fernandez burst in.

"Here you go. Hurry." She urges, throwing the duffel bag into Night Thrasher's arm.

"Will only take a minute." He said, going up to the roof.

When he emerged, Night Thrasher was in his new armour. It was similar to the older style Mark I and Mark II armours he wore during the 90's, but had the trenchcoat and darker stylings of the Mark III. He had his red and black helmet, his battle staves, and his hidden weapons. He even had his skateboard, something he had ditched once he started doing the reality TV show.

"Lets go." Thrasher declares.

The New Warriors were assembled. It was time to confront Damage Control. In full costume, with Fernandez in tow filming it all on his camera, The New Warriors marched their way to the main office of Damage Control Inc, brazen in their openness. There was only one intern that got in their way, hardly a challenge. She squealed in recognition, seeing her favorite TV stars and bolting like mad when she was told to leave by Night Thrasher.

Behind the Oak doors was the director of Damage Control Inc.

Night Thrasher knocked on the door.

"Well... speak of the devil. Come in..." Called Anne Marie Hoag from inside.

The New Warriors conducted themselves with severe restraint; despite being in full costume and ready to fight, they sauntered into the office of the CEO of Damage Control Inc. as if they were in a business meeting.

In a way, it was a business meeting.

Also in the room was Walter Declun, CEO of Damage Control, whom was talking to founder Anna Marie Hoag. Anna Marie was an older woman, white haired but professional, and holding herself with a proud bearing. Walter Declun had the part of a professional; slick, cool, dangerous. Both were squared off, the wized matron versus the powerful, charismatic leader. It was hard to tell whom would come out on top.

Between them was The New Warriors, absolutely confused.

"Hello Speedball... or should I say Robbie Baldwin." Hoag greeted Speedball.

"Ummm... hi?" He waved, the rest of The New Warriors had a puzzled look in their face, "I worked for her for a bit."

"And you didn't have to get hired in the janitorial group to get back in." Anne Marie joked, "You can always come back with us." 

Speedball replied, "Sorry boss, but I kinda have this reality tv show gig going on and I really don't have the time..." 

"Cut it out Speedball." Night Thasher interrupted with a wave of his hand, stepping up to the desk and leaning to show his authority. "We're here to get some answers. Nitro. Stamford. You know what I mean."

Walter Declun looked amused, but Anne Marie stared down Night Thrasher, mask to wrinkled face, and did what very few villians even managed to do. She stared him back down and did not flinch. She crossed her arms, then drew out a pen as she leafed through one of her folders.

"Walter and I were just discussing his position in Damage Control, and thanks to your timely arrival, I have more weight to my argument. New Warriors... Walter Declun. Walter Declun, New Warriors. They were the people you got in the firing line, remember?"

Both The New Warriors and Walter Declun looked confused. The Damage Control CEO nervously fingered in his pockets as Anne Marie continued, "Walter, if you can't tell by my youthful demenor, then perhaps I can clarity; I wasn't born yesterday. Tell The New Warriors. Tell them everything. They came all this way and they even brought the cameras. Might as well be honest with them."

Walter Declun sneered. "No." 

"Then I will." Anne Marie flipped through her folder, "I had just recent regained control of my company and now have a voice in what I want done within it. However, so too does Walter Declun, and he would like to see it become very profitable. He wants to do it at the expense of others, and that is where I draw the line. Tell them, Walter."

He ignored the request from Anne Marie, his fingers still fumbling in the pockets of his suit. 

"It is true." Anne Marie said, "We anticipated a superhero accident of apocalyptic proportions someday. We also anticipated that there would be a great demand for our services, so we were ready. There is even talk that there will be registration for superheroes. Either way, there will be a demand on our services. Reconstruction, training, logistics. Damage Control will prosper." 

"And that is not enough." Walter Declun snarled, "You are too passive. Your way will take years and you'll be long dead before it. I was promised plenty of contracts, right away. All we had to do was take some initiative, try things ourselves. You people were ripe for it. All we had to do was give the right people a proper push..."

He then produced a vial from his jacket, "You remember this, right?"

Night Thrasher glared at the vial in Declun's hand, "MGH."

"Yes, it is." Walter said, "Mutant Groth Hormone, as made by our Pharmaceutical wing. It was us that gave it to Nitro." 

"Correction. It was you who gave it to Nitro." Anne Marie said.

Murmurs of anger came from The New Warriors. Microbe was unbucking a pouch in his pocket, Speedball and Namorita were in fighting stances and Night Thrasher lept to get face to face with Walter Declun. Even with their willingness to fight, Declun stared down Night Thrasher with the utmost confidence.

"Why US?!" Night Thrasher screamed.

"Why you?" Walter Declun laughed, "It was easy. You stooges were high profile, low talent and easy to sucker. I found the right villians... the right one since the rest were really requests from a friend of mine to get out of the way. Nitro, boosted with MGH was more than enough for all of you. He would have killed you all. We would have been guarenteed contracts for life."

"You what?!?!" Speedball yelled until his distorted voice rang like a clarion bell, "You were going to get us all killed?!?! For some stupid contracts?!?! That's cold man... that's cold! I wouldn't even sell out that badly!"

"We cannae let this man go." Microbe stated.

"And we won't." Anne Marie Hoag answered, "Because I knew you all were coming." She looked apologetic to the Warriors, "Sorry, but I know a thing or two, Robbie. I wanted Walter to look you all in the eye, and see the people he almost killed, before I fired him."

"You mean... before we kicked his butt." Namorita said with a predatory glance.

Declun spun the vial in his hands, pacing back and forth from the desk to the wall. He didn't look like a man that had just been fired, beaten or cornered. He looked calm, in control of the situation. It put all The New Warriors on alert. 

Declune said, "That is nothing, my friends. I have friends of influence. They wanted this to happen. As long as I set up my part, they can have what they want and this company will roll in contracts for years."

"And it would have cost us our lives!" Night Thrasher's hand went to his battle stave. 

"Sure it would." Anne Marie admitted, "And if my friend had his way, it would have also pushed a certain little registration law through congress faster than Quicksilver on speed. New Warriors, I'm afraid you really were dupes, and it was more than profit. It was for Superhero Registration."

"Wha?" Speedball stammered, "Why would we..."

"It makes sense." Night Thrasher said, "If we started a fight with Nitro, and we died, who would be blamed? Maybe Nitro, but if you spin it right... put the emphasis on an impulsive action like Speedball charging in... and you can easily blame it on us." 

"Whoa..." Speedball stuttered, realization and guilt washing over him, "...everyone would have been screaming to keep us capes in control."

"That is correct." Confirmed Anne Marie, "Thats why I'm putting a stop to this nonsense. Profit and control is not worth what we are doing out here, and I sure won't do it for the same man that will work with known criminals. If you really want to know... "

"...That friend she mentioned..." Walter Declun boomed, "Has some very dangerous friends... including me."

Walter reached for his vial, and was about to uncap the stopper, when the windows shattered, two glowing orange orbs crashing through double paned windows to roll at his feet and the feet of Anne Marie Hoag.

The orbs had a grinning pumpkin face.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH HAhahahahahahahaaaaaa!!!!"

The detonation that went off sucked the air out of the room, throwing The New Warriors off their feet, plowing the members into furniture and walls and leaving them bruised, but otherwise unharmed. Anne Marie was flung from the desk in her explosion, a small cry of pain that was cut off from death that came with its proximity. Declun was also thrown against the wall in the explosion, but being so close the bomb's shrapnal shredded into flesh and crushed his ribs and organs. When he was down, it was a bloody mess, barely concious enough to breath.

With all the windows blown out and the room reeking of sulfur, The New Warriors collected themselves to see what was outside. Fernandez peered out, his camera recording the incident, to see what was revealed to the day.

"Oh... boss?" Speedball directed to Night Thrasher.

"Yes?"

"You know how I said those other four were easy as pie to beat and we just bareeely did it?"

"Yeah..."

"Welll... they guys aren't so easy, and this time I'll take your advice... we should get the hell out of here!"

Declun gasped, blood flecking from his lips, "You know those friends of mine? THose are people a friend of mine can control. They are... the Thunderbolts..." Before he could say more, he coughed flecks of blood, and his eyes turned glassy as he went silent.

"Oh man..." Speedball dreaded. "Oh man oh man oh man... they're the big guns... That lady in the left..." He pointed to the cameraman to pan into a seductively shaped, silver dressed woman, her hands glowing with energy, "That's Moonstone, and that..." came crawling from the ceiling, a black, overly muscled form with sharp teeth that dripped bile, "...that's Venom, charged with multiple murders and he whips Spider Man's &! every week just for a light workout. And over there..." His shaky finger pointed to a man in a purple and black suit, holding a shining sword as if to challenge The New Warriors to a duel, "...is Swordsman, and he's the son of a big time Captain America villain. And the last guy..."

A hovercraft hissed and whined down, and on top was a man in green and purple. He held a pumpkin bomb menacingly in his hands. His eyes budged as his fingers skipped the bomb in his hands, showing predator teeth and a mad stare. 

"...needs no introduction." Speedball gulped, and said aside, "You gettin' all this, Fernandez?" 

"Hoooooohhh yeah." John Fernandez nodded his head. 

"Good introduction pal." Said the man on the hovercraft, "But I can one up ya! AH hah hah hah... We are THE THUNDERBOLTS, and we're sent by a mutual friend to bring punks like you down!"

"New Warriors... FAN OUT!"

As The Thunderbolts members Moonstone, Swordsman and Venom lunged after The New Warriors, Green Goblin arched his flyer upwards, releasing two pumpkin bombs to follow his team's advance. Venom leapt, slavering with a great jawful of jagged teeth, his muscles bulged to exaggerated proportions, Swordsman darting elegantly, his sword flashing out of his scabbard, and Moonstone gliding, the energy in her hands building up.

Caught flatfooted when The Thunderbolts came in, The New Warriors were better prepared to respond in the here and now. Speedball bounced to the side and out of the way. Microbe, his hand to his pocket, ran for the desk with Night Thrasher. Together, the two New Warriors, overturned the nearly ruined desk for cover, ducking down as the pumpkin bombs burst out gray, choking smoke.

Night Thrasher and Microbe both spotted Anne Marie Hoag and the body of William Declun. With blood on his body, Declun had a moment ago expired the last of his life, but Anne Marie was still holding tenuously onto the last of hers.

"Microbe! Get her out of here!" Ordered Night Thrasher.

With a nod of his head, the gargantuum member of the New Warriors, jammed an item from his pocket into his mouth, and gingerly picked up Anne Marie. Through the smoke and confusion, he groped his way to the door, seeing flickers of fighting in motion.

Then as a glowing blur, Moonstone fired a flare of bright energy. It impacted Microbe in the shoulder, bowling the big man into the wall. He kept on his feet, while Anne Marie groaned in pain from being jostled. Microbe turned to face his adversary, and shoved another item into his mouth.

"So... you eat in the middle of battle?" Said Moonstone, her hands holding back a charge of energy, "No wonder you are fat." 

"Nae." Microbe glared hatefully at Moonstone, "It's bread. The wonderful thing about bread is..."

With a throaty 'hwooock', Microbe spat out a blob of chewed bread at Moonstone's face, splatting over her cheeks and eyes in a drippy, tanlike blob. She sidewards glanced at the gob and made a disgusted face, until her face turned into one of surprise.

The glob moved, and grew. It was coating over her eyes, which she clawed at until she screamed.

Microbe wiped a piece of bread off his mouth, and finished with aplomb, "...yeast. Full o' bacterial beasties. Have fun bein' blinded."

Failing to wipe the expanding mass over her eyes, she screamed into her wrist, "BULLSEYE!"

"You bet your !$!$." Microbe nodded, leaving the office room with Anne Marie Hoag in his arms.

Namorita had Venom bearing down on her from out of the smoke. Bracing her feet and balling her fist, she pounced after the supercharged symbiote, landing a solid punch into the creature's midsection. It buckled Venom, causing him to land on the floor with clawed hands extended, leaving lengthy rends in the expensive rug.

"That hurt..." Venom growled hungrily, "Just for that... I'm going to enjoy eating your..." 

"Fist?" Namorita answered, a straight punch catching Venom in the jaw.

In a splatter of jagged teeth, symbiotic black substance and green saliva fluid, Venon careened off the floor and over the blown out edge of the building. As he plummeted from story to story, he reached his hand out to grab, catching the side of the building and tearing gouts out to slow down his descent. Nonetheless, when he did hit the sidewalk, it came with such a thunderous force that it cratered the cement and threw the innocent people below all about from meters away. Rather than lay out the symbiote, he pounced onto the balls of his feet, and sprang onto the side of the building. As he climbed, his claws gouged into the limestone.

"Gonna eat your brain for that little hit..." Venom snarled on his climb.

Speedball's greatest asset was the agility that came with being able to repel kinetic energy. So with his abilities stretched, he avoided the attacks from Swordsman's darting blade. The Swordman attacked with such speed and ferocity that even Speedball's kinetic abilities and dodging was keeping the flashing steel only inches from his body. He could see and feel a few rends in his uniform, and event felt the slight stabs of pain as it cut his skin. When he tried to punch or kick, there was the blade, waiting for him to lose a limb on its sharp surface.

Speedball kept dodging. Swordsman kept attacking. Swordsman was the one winning ground.

"Oh Thraaaasssshhhhh..." Speedball whiningly pleaded for aid.

"Oh for the love of..." Reaching behind his back, Night Thrasher brought out his skateboard, and buckled it to his arm as an improvised shield. One battle stave out, Thrasher left to the defense of his friend Speedball, blocking a sweeping sidelong slash with his board shield. The battle stave cracked upwards, catching the Swordman's helmet in the jaw area. A second hit cracked the plexiglas visor surface, and a knee to the stomach doubled the Austrian noble over.

"Hey Captain Pride Parade..." Speedball rebounded off the wall, and then the roof, diving in like a wrestler from the top rope, "EAT ELBOW!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, the elbow smash driving into the side of Swordsman's helmet. The force of the impact picked Swordman off his feet and smashed him through the nearest wall.

Night Thrasher and Speedball looked at each other.

"Eat elbow?" Night Thrasher questioned.

Speedball shrugged, "Awww come on. Nam' talked about eating fist and Microbe hocked a bread loogie at Moonstone, so I thought I would follow the theme."

Night Thrasher shrugged, "Whatever works."

"My man!" Speedball balled his fist. Night Thrasher did the same, punching them together. "John! You catch all that?!"

Fernandez appeared from the door, yelling out, "There was alot of smoke, but I got some really good shots out of that!"

Speedball grinned like a fox. "Alright! Don't even have to reshoot the scene."

"Come on Speedball. Take this seriously." Night Thrasher warned his compatriot, "We're facing some of the most dangerous villains in the world and you're worried that the scene is botched?"

Speedball was wounded, but a flash of maturity showed in his eyes. "I know what we're up against, boss. We'll have to move and move quick. But look at them. They can barely work together, just like at Stamford. We can take them! 

Night Thrasher silently nodded. He had to admit, The New Warriors were handling themselves well, like a team. It was different Warriors than Stamford, whom could barely be controlled.

"Man, who keeps throwing these jokers at us?" Speedball questioned. 

"You got a point, Speedball." Night Thrasher admitted. "It's not a coincidence."

"BULLSEYE! BULLSEYE!" Moonstone screamed from somewhere in the smoke. Night Thrasher could see the silouette of Namorita stalk towards Moonstone. "Bullseye! One of those stupid clowns took off with one of the targets! FIND THAT FAT MESS AND KILL HIM!" Namorita towered over the prone woman, her fist raised in forboding promise, "He has one of the targets! KILL THEM BOTH!"

Namorita's fist cracked at Moonstone's jaw. She went unconcious, her radio broadcasting static.

"Oh jesus..." Night Thrasher gasped, and ran for the door.

"Boss?" Speedball said, confused.

Night Thrasher stopped at the door. "Didn't you hear her? Bullseye! He's a murder for hire! I got to find Microbe! You two, keep Venom and Green Goblin busy, and make sure those other two don't get up!"

"Aye aye, Cap!" Speedball saluted with a happy grin, turning to go out the window. 

What he saw evaporated the grin out of his face. A crunch, two crunches, and the weight of a very heavy being throwing himself up and landing in front of Namorita and Speedball. With the smoke cleared, both the Atlantian and the smart alecky kid from Manhattan saw Venom, muscled more than before, like a demon from the pits. 

"Oh good..." Venom licked his lips with his extra long tongue... "Two meals..."

Microbe's massive frame thundered down the steps, Anne Marie Hoag in his arms being jolted painfully from her internal injuries. With his face flush and his breath wheezing like a locomotive, he stopped at the basewell of a staircase, just adjacent to the main floor. He experimentally jiggled the handle, but it stayed firmly locked. Reaching for his belt, Microbe withdrew a canister, opened up the can, and pored the noxious substance on the door. It started to bubble and crack, but it was a slow process.

"Do not sorry, ma'am." Microbe fretted, "I'll get you to a doctor." 

She looked up to the superhero with dying eyes. The last flickers of life were holding on by a fraction of strong will. Even while dying, Anne Marie Hoag held an indominable spirit. She refused to die, and wanted to speak to Microbe.

"Stay still, ma'am." Microbe brushed the blood matted hair out of her eyes, "We just need to get you to a medic. Hold on."

Anne Marie croaked, "I didn't think... he had the nerve..." 

Microbe looked at her, confused, "I don't understand. Who? What are you talking about? Maybe you should wait until I find a doctor."

"No..." Anne Marie held fast to Microbe's collar, to draw him closer, "You don't understand... he used to own part of this company. He has connections... in the government, in every part of the superhero community. That would explain... The Thunderbolts..."

The doorknob oozed into a pock marked mess, and splattered on the floor. He commanded his microorganisms to stop eating the metal and reached cautiously for the door, but Anne Marie Hoag once again pulled on his collar.

"The Thunderbolts are a villain reform program." She explained, "One we helped set up, but it is a government project. Declun had a part in it... just as Stark had a part in Damage Control at one time. But I never thought he would try to sever Declun himself. He is the only one... with the connections. His company made the nanochains... he would have access... "

"But... I do not understand!" Microbe objected, "Why?"

"Declun... was still too greedy." Anne Marie's voice was starting to falter its last, the blood loss and her last life spark contributing to what was a weak, rambling diatribe, "He failed... at Stamford. It was more than just a contract... it was a matter of convenience. Declun got the contract... and they... got an incident. I tried to make him answer for it... but now... I fear nobody will... not even Stark..." 

"Not even Stark? Who's Stark?" Microbe shook at Anne Marie, "What are you talking about?" Anne Marie gasped, her last breath escaping slowly, "Come on! Stop! I cannae let you go like this! Please! Just hold..."

He felt a needle sharp pain hit him on the shoulder, its impact a dry 'thunk' that went deep enough to hit muscle. Microbe yelped out in pain, and reached to pull out the offending dart. Feeling some sticky blood leak out and flaring pain that followed as he yanked the dart loose, he was thankful that it only hit his shoulder, and not his neck or head. Nonetheless, his arm objected when he tried to rotate the shoulder, but not too much. The dart was silver coloured all through, but shaped like something from a bar and not a weapon, its tip bloody but only an inch deep. Sometimes his bulk was useful. A deeper, longer tip would have injured his shoulder more seriously. 

He had to turn around and see who threw the offending dart, and what he saw gave him a dread feeling that he was ill equipped to handle him.

"The name's Bullseye, superstar." Said the menacing man with the foxlike grin and black and white suit, a suite of playing cards in one hand and a sai in the other, "And I'm allowed to tell you that I can't kill you..."

"Get knackered!" Zachary Smith bellowed.

He snapped off a canister from his belt, throwing it at Bullseye. Unimpressed, Bullseye threw his handful of cards. One hit the canister before it could reach the assassin, and the others would have hit if Microbe did not roll to the side.

Bullseye smirked, a trademark of his that spoke well his intentions. "However... I can do everything up to that... and I don't have to kill you to keep you quiet."

From Namorita's perspective, the fight was not going well.

The creature known as Venom was facing off against her, and it was gaining the advantage in their melee. Her Atlantian heritage gave Namora Prentiss both astounding speed and agility, as well as the strength to keep up with most any superhuman. But Venom, an alien symbiote with a human as a host, was more than easily a match for Namorita in speed and strength.

It was his ferocity that gave Venom the edge, and soon the confidence that Namorita gained from landing the first blow was evaporated. There was back and forth to gain the measure of each other, but when Namorita thought she found a weakness in the midsection, Venom viciously slashed at her midsection with his clawed fingers. She had a fraction of a second to avoid eviceration. Even so, Venom's claws dug into the flesh of her ribs, and the force of the blow flung her into the wall.

The lacerations felt as if they were on fire when she moved. She saw the jagged tears in her swimsuit of a costume, the blue blood congealed and trickled around it.

With Venom pouncing above her, she had no more time to survey her wounds. She dived out of the way to avoid being crushed, jumping to move back to her allies.

She saw that Speedball was not faring much better. His attempt to get into Venom's defenses was working as well as Namorita's attacks. Acrobatically, Speedball flipped and kicked Venom, but the Symbiote turned to catch the foot on his bulging shoulders. A backhand swatted Speedball away, and with annoyance Venom stomped over to the Atlantian.

"I'm going to eat your heart." Venom vowed, his toothy maw slavering with green bile, "I'm going to eat your liver. And most importantly... I'm going to eat your brain. Tell me..." He gutterally relished the words as Namorita crept closer to the wall, and in his rage he threw and shattered an oak office chair that was in his way, "...what kind of wine goes well with fish?"

Namorita replied, hard bitten, "If you dare to kill a member of Atlantian royalty, you will have more trouble than you can handle."

"Oh?" Venom sarcastically emulated fear, "From you? Guppy... you'll be long dead and I'll be untouchable. My... employers will make sure of that. All you have to worry about is whether or not I'll bother to kill you before I eat any part of you." He said while licking his chops. Namorita dreaded how serious the creature seemed to be. 

She got up, raised fist, and prepared to face down the alien. At that moment, she felt truly small against Venom.

"I do not die easily." Namorita spat. She caught movement from the corner of her eye, running. It was Speedball! The idea came upon her to keep the creatures focus on her. "Back down. I am more than a match for you."

"Good..." Venom sneered with his rows of sharp teeth, "Because now that gives me an excuse to..."

"GET DISTRACTED?!?!" Speedball sprinted and skipped over the floor, each bounce building up his potential energy. He tucked and rolled until he was a skipping ball, and uncoiled at the time of attack, striking Venom in the side of the head with both feet forward. The kick launched the symbiote to the wall, crashing through drywall and planks and into the next office over.

He wheeled over to Namorita and helped her the rest of the way up. As an ally, she was grateful for Speedball's help. Though the flamboyant showoff did grate on her nerves, they were nonetheless good friends.

"We need to get out in the open." Namorita declared.

Speedball was less than impressed. "We need to what?!" He objected, "Green Goblin is out there. We have our hands full enough with Venom, and who knows when Swordsman and Moonstone will get up." He then said as a surprise spurt of responsibility, "We have people down there too. I know we've done alot of stupid things before, but fighting with civilians in our way is not a good idea."

Namorita growled, "The roofs, idiot!"

"Oh yeah..." Speedball hummed, "On three then?"

Namorita sighed, "On three. Fernandez, go to the roof! You'll get some good shots there." 

"Alright!" Called out the Cameraman, "Like we don't have enough here."

"GO! I could care less about good shots and crappy audio! We have a real fight on our hands!" Speedball yelled, effectively dismissing Fernandez, "Alright Nam... on three... one..."

Venom was starting to crawl out of the hole Speedball propelled him through, a mass of splinters, black muscle, and teeth. He crawled on all fours like a mockery of Spiderman.

"Two..."

Swordsman shook off his fatigue, and springing like a cat, he had the sword in his hand with a twirl. At the same time, Moonstone was groggily getting up from the punch she received from Namorita. Swordsman and Venom seemed to recognize each other's positions, and see what Speedball and Namorita were ready to sprint. Nodding to each other, they charged after the two New Warriors.

"THREE!" 

Speedball was the first out of the shattered remnants of the window, and was spotted immediately by Green Goblin. Cackling with sadistic pleasure, Green Goblin speed his craft towards the rebounding Speedball, two pumpkin bombs produced out of his bag of tricks.

Next was Namorita. Slower to flee than Speedball, she saw she was about to be intercepted by two of the Thunderbolts, while the third Moonstone built up a glowing energy in her hand. Venom to her right, claws extended and bounding like a predator, and Swordsman to her left whom jumped debris and held his sword in a prepared midsection slash, they were both going to intersect with her before she could clear the building.

Risking the chance of being sliced into two, Namorita kicked her winged feet and sailed into the air, contorting her body to keep as slim of a horizontal profile as she could manage. Her lithe frame corkscrewed while holding her arms and legs tight, and trusted the rest to fate.

Her dive soared mere millimeters overtop Swordsman's slash, while Moonstone's energy blast singed her snow white hair from above. Venom's claws extended to grab for her ankle, but fell short from clutching the Atlantian away from her freedom. Namorita felt the air instantly turn cool and the sun warm her exposed skin. She was out. She was free.

If just for a moment.

She could see Speedball skip from side to side of the adjacent buildings, careful not to crash through windows or damage any of the bricks and steel. Namorita did the same, using her own superhuman strength to emulate what Speedball could do easily. Her leaps from wall to wall were less refined and jarred her body, but it worked well.

The Thunderbolts were less careful about their transit. Green Goblin streaked after Speedball, a plume of exhaust from his glider cut as Namorita darted through the choking smoke. Speedball had to evade, and nearly lost his footing. Namorita had the misfortune to look down, and see that Venom was climbing his way up to the roof, rending copious gouges out of the building's masonry. Not fast enough, he shot webbing and swung, using his superior strength to boost his launch. He aimed for Namorita and missed with both feet, his deft movements deceitful for someone his size, his intelligence wasting no time to spin another webline to swing him to the roof.

Namorita and Speedball landed together at the centre of Damage Control Inc's rooftop, right where the Atlantian started to begin with. Fernandez was already at the roof. The brave combat cameraman already had his equipment ready.

As for The Thunderbolts, Venom landed with a earth cracking impact, his claws digging deep into the roofing material. Green Goblin hovered overhead, and Moonstone joined him in the air, her fists glowing with incandescent energy.

For all intents and purposes, Namorita and Speedball were surrounded, trapped, and they knew it.

"Hey Nam..." Speedball said uncertainly.

"Yes?" Namorita pivoted as Green Goblin speed by.

"I just wanted to say before I die..." He looked intently at Moonstone, waiting for her to pounce, "...that the Maxim shoot you did... it looked really hot. Especially in that white negligee."

"You know Speedball... just when I think you've redeemed yourself..." Namorita cut herself short, catching the wry smile from the crook of Speedball's mouth. Her friend's off sense of humour, at a time when the most dangerous villains in the world were surrounding them both and outmatching them easily, such a flippant attitude towards the dangers that surrounded them seemed comically funny, almost as if they were both making a big deal out of nothing.

She hoped somehow she would survive to appreciate the humour.

She and Speedball readied themselves, as The Thunderbolts attacked.

Meanwhile, Microbe was keeping himself a close distance away from death.

He ran through the main lobby of Damage Control sporting new cuts and wounds. He covered his shoulder, the one hit before, as if it was on fire. For the most part, it felt as if it was. Something was wrong with that wound, and it was taking alot of his bacterial control powers to keep it from getting worse.

Another playing card whistled in the air, digging deep into Microbe's other shoulder. He cried out in pain and pulled the card out, throwing it in agony on the floor.

Bullseye was relentless against the lone New Warrior. As soon as he threw his cards, more appeared in his hands, or more silver darts, or throwing daggers, even sais where there were no sais. He ignored the civilians, but security guards were fair game to the assassin. He efficiently stabbed a security guard in the stomach, then whirled to jam the sai into the second guard's head.

"Here... fatty fatty fatty..." Bullseye taunted, the sai twirling between his fingertips, "Fatty like Fisk... gonna see if that's muscle like Fisk or Crisco like my Aunt June."

A silver dart streaked from his hand, and caught Microbe in the knee. He tried to run, but the pain of the blade in his flesh caused him to trip and fall. Pain exploded all over his body, the culmination of wounds was too much. Where Microbe failed to run he tried to crawl, but he was painfully too slow to reach anywhere safe.

"Don't feel bad about it fatboy." Said Bullseye, standing in mastery over the fallen Microbe. "You did try, and for someone with such a profile and such useless powers, you gave it your all. But..." He raised the sai over his head, "...I'm afraid even your best effort wasn't enough to knock over my Aunt June, much less me. Now, if I hit you in just the right place, you'll be a vegetable, and no use to anyone. You'll wish you were dead, just like I do."

The sai plunged down. In a panic, Microbe screamed in terror, put all his focus on anything desperate to try. Like a nervous reflex, he fought, he wished for anything that would stop Bullseye.

The sai stopped within a centimeter from his eye.

Bullseye had a sour look to his face, which turned from pink to white then green. He gagged, the bile in his throat rising, as his stomach lurched and gurgled. The sickly sensation spread from his stomach to the rest of his body, and couldn't do much more than hold his stomach in. Doubling over in pain, he looked balefully at Microbe.

"Ye know..." Microbe's confidence grew as he stared down Bullseye, "You have bacteria all over you. Your skin, your hair... your stomach. I can make you wish you were dead too. How would ye like t'mess yourself on national TV?"

Too sickly to act, Bullseye curled up on the floor, presenting Microbe with an unlikely victory. Night Thrasher burst in through the stairwell, Microbe limping and bleeding over the doubled over, groaning body of Bullseye. He seemed ready for battle, and disappointed that he was denied.

"You did that?" Night Thrasher said in disbelief, "You beat Bullseye."

"Yeah." Microbe nodded proudly to his adopted father, "Easy if yeh think about it... Thrash!!" 

Bullseye's hands instantly materialized his silver darts, aimed with deadly precision at Night Thrasher's eyes. Thrash used his skateboard shield to deflect the darts. "GO MICROBE! GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Oh no..." Bullseye got off the floor on shaky, uncertain feet, "Now I don't care. He is gonna die for giving me the..."

"GO TO HELL!" Night Thrasher swung his skateboard wildly, blocked efficiently by Bullseye. "Go!" 

Microbe limped away from the fight, Night Thrasher and Bullseye fighting madly in the lobby, the two martial artists trying to breach each others defenses with punches and kicks. Microbe, in the excitement, barely noticed the shadow looming over the skylight. 

The punctuation of shattering glass did however get his attention.

Swordsman dived into the fight, and though he narrowly missed, he interposed himself between Bullseye and Night Thrasher, his sword plunged and readily withdrawn from the faux marble floor.

"An unfair fight then?" Bullseye joked.

Swordsman nodded, "Ja."

"Lets butcher the dumbass in the gimp mask quickly." Bullseye glared slowly at Microbe, "Because I want to take my time with the fat one."

"Jawohl." Swordsman nodded again, "It will be my pleasure."

"NO IT WON'T!" Microbe lobbed his canister of his fowl, homemade concoction. Bullseye weaved out of the way while Night Thrasher lunged at him with a battle stave, but Swordsman saw the attack coming, and was quick to slash the canister open.

He couldn't have made a worse mistake. 

Microbe commanded the bacteria that splattered the blade to eat at the metal. Rapidly, the metal pitted and rusted, until even the rust flaked away and left nothing behind but rust dust on the floor. In a panic, Swordsman dropped the weapon, and watched with dismay as the bacteria reached the hilt. It slowed down as the bacteria tried to adjust itself to new material, but soon the blade was reduced to nothing.

"SISTER!" Swordsman screamed out, vainly attempting to gather the dust, "SISTER! NO!" Ignoring the fighting around him, Swordsman wept over the ashes of his sword.

Meanwhile, Bullseye and Night Thrasher were in a dance that excluded all else. Both being skilled martial artists and weapon users, it was interesting to see their diversely different styles clash against each other. Bullseye had his blades, his cards and his sais, to which he aimed at joints and slits while jabbing with punches and kicks. Night Thrasher kept the blades back with his armour, and what couldn't be protected he dodged. The Mark IV armour kept him alive, its metal surface scored and marked by Bullseye's blades, the lightness of the Mark III combined with the toughness of the older Mark 1 and 2 he used earlier in his career. His gauntlets balled into fists and swung. Bullseye stepped back and roundhouse kicked, and Night Thrasher deflected with a block.

"Give it up kid!" Bullseye wheedled, "I outclass you and you know it. Without the armour, you're nothing. Without your New Warriors, you're nothing but a punk!" He backhand slashed with a silver dart, a feint that was meant to distract from the sai that was swishing like a coiled viper for his solar plexus, "You can't beat the big boys." Night Thrasher deflected the sai, but was too slow to see the kick to the back of the leg that brought him down to one knee, "I've seen your show." The sai went down, threatening to plunge into the top of Night Thrasher's head, stopped short by crossed arms, "You've got nothing on a real threat like me!" Bullseye kicked Night Thrasher in the stomach, sprawling out The New Warriors leader, with no room to recover and fight back. "Now your amateur group is gettings its butts kicked by real superhumans like myself and The Thunderbolts." Bullseye had Night Thrasher at a disadvantage, lording over him with one sai, then another materializing in his hand.

"What do you say to that?" Bullseye grinned, assured of his catch.

Night Thrasher raised up his hand, opened palm, as if to surrender. "I'd say..." He then clenched his fist, "That like everyone else... you don't know a damn thing about The New Warriors." 

Click

The wrist gauntlet activated. The second battle stave, unused on his skateboard shield arm, cannoned out of its wrist launcher and cracked Bullseye in the throat. The assassin made horrible gurgling noises as Night Thrasher spun his legs like a breakdancer, vaulting himself to his haunches. "We're used to being underestimated!" Night Thrasher spin kicked Bullseye in the chest, where ribs and frontal vertibrae meet, causing the assassin to stumble back and spit blood, "We're used to being told that we're too weak!" His palm shot up and cracked at Bullseye's jaw, "Too young!" A right hook to Bullseye's temple showed Night Thrasher just how thick his metal skull was, but was absorbed by the gauntlets, "Too inexperienced! Too much of a sellout!" The knee to the stomach faked as he used his elbow to catch Bullseye in the ear, leaving his hearing to ring, "Well guess what? We're The New Warriors!"

In a spin, his trenchcoat fluttering like a matador's cape, Night Thrasher's hapkido kick spun him full circle, his boot a red blur as it kicked full force into the side of Bullseye's head. Even with metal skullplates, the force of Night Thrasher's spin kick sent his brain into his skull, instant unconciousness to follow.

"And we are the real deal." Night Thrasher looked down on his fallen enemies. Bullseye was unconcious. Swordsman still wept over the remains of his sword. He checked on Microbe whom was worse for wear, but not lethally endangered. He slapped handcuffs on Swordsman and Bullseye. 

Microbe wheezed, "Sorry I couldn't do much." 

"What?" Night Thrasher acted surprised, "You took on Bullseye and survived, and you beat Swordsman. I'd say you did well."

"Really?" Microbe said, astonished. 

"Yeah. Now lets hope the others do the same. I tried to get a hold of The Avengers on my way down. These guys are too much for us to handle. Just hold tight, let the police take care of these guys, and I'll be back."

"No! Let me help ye!" Microbe tried to get up.

Night Thrasher pleaded, "Please don't! You're injured. You won't make it up the stairs. Just sit still. You did well. Don't push it."

Microbe thought better of it. "You're right, ye know."

Night Thrasher was already running up the stairs. "We were lucky." He thought, about himself and Microbe both, "We beat the best through luck. Lets hope Nam and Speedball have a little for themselves..."

"Keep it moving!" Speedball cartwheeled over Moonstone's blast, the energy rippling air and singing his chest, "NAM! BEHIND!" 

"On it!" Namora Prentiss, The New Warrior's Namorita, vaulted herself in the air, he legs kicking and anklet wings fluttering, her body arching in midair as Green Goblin failed to catch her in a fly by. Touching the solid surface of the roof by her hand, she flipped and kicked the shoulder of a charging Venom. The symbiote's strength more than matched the Atlantian, and she was thrust off. Landing on both her feet, she came side to side with Speedball, and readied for their next attack.

Three Thunderbolts were more than a match for two New Warriors. To keep in the fight, Namorita and Speedball kept on the defensive, using their respective agilities and strengths to keep an attack ahead of The Thunderbolts.

Thunderbolts teamwork was working better than New Warriors resolve. Venom soaked all they could throw at him, and used his muscles to take the damage and charge after Namorita and Speedball. Rending claws and a snapping maw kept punches and kicks away, lest The New Warriors dared to lose them. Moonstone kept her distance, and phased out whenever The New Warriors went on the attack against her. Green Goblin's glider buzzed and speeded over the battlefield to take the occasional swipe, its silver wings more than once threatening to scythe the heroes.

"Hey Thrash..." Speedball called into his pin communication device, "Did you save Microbe yet?"

He heard the crackle and interference from his earpiece. "I'm coming up. Listen, this is too much! I called The Avengers. They'll be here any minute!"

"YOU WHAT?!?!" Speedball hollered, his evasions against Moonstone's blasts leaving a trail of kinetic bubbles as angry as he was, "Don't you remember when they stole the glory from us when we fought Terrax? Or that time we STOLE THEIR FREAKIN' QUINJET to save your sorry &!?!"

Night Thrasher countered angrily, "You remember when I told you we almost screwed up at Stamford! We're in over our heads and I'm not taking any chances! I'm the leader, not you!"

Speedball muttered dejectedly, ping ponging off three individual obstacles while ducking Moonstone's beams and a claw from Venom. "Can't say I wouldn't appreciate the help. Hate it when you're right pal!"

In one such moment, Green Goblin caught Speedball on the evasive against Moonstone. Cackling with glee, he swooped in, the glider sporting a gleaming edge.

"Hey buddy, you play pool?!" Speedball taunted. "Well... GREEN BALL! CORNER POCKET BH!"

Propelling himself at the glider, Speedball used his entire body to strike under the glider's wing. It destabilized Green Goblin's flight, the glider rolling and pitching to the ground. Green Goblin bailed out of his glider, rolling alongside his wrecked craft. The cameraman Fernandez pan shot the entire crash, retreating behind a vent to watch the rest of the action.

What Speedball missed in the Melee was Moonstone flying from behind. "BOUNCING BALL, TAKING A DIVE!" She screamed from behind, and cut loose with a volley of energy beams. Two struck Speedball at the small of his back, and his fall cracked the bricks and bent the metal of another ventilation shaft.

Unlike most attacks, Speedball did not recover fast. His uniform was a mess of tears and matted blood. His body hung limp over the ruins of the roof and his eyes fluttered listlessly. A solitary groan of pain uttered from his lips.

Namorita glanced over at her companion, and seeing Speedball in his compromised state left enough of a distraction to leave an opening. Venom grabbed her with both hands over her ribcage, squeezing painfully into her wounded side. She punched at Venom's face and arms, kicked at his chest to lessen his vicelike grip, but it was like kicking the muscles of a bull. Venom's soulless, voidlike mouth licked its chops.

"Which limb should I eat first?" Venom crooned with anticipation. 

"Here..." She moaned, her legs bunched up, coiled, "Try me... feet first!"

The double kick to Venom's chest staggered the monster and allowed Namorita to wriggle free. Her first thoughts were to Speedball, whom was still picking himself up from Moonstone's assault. She heard over her radio that Night Thrasher was on his way and the Avengers were responding. It was enough to keep fighting on, and keep Speedball in the fight.

She wanted to fight, for it was the only way she would survive long enough. It was part of the genetic makeup of the Atlantian. What was perceived as haughty arrogance was an unending will to perservere. 

Will and perserverence, however, had nothing against Green Goblin's pumpkin bomb, which she saw streaking towards her.

The about face to run towards Venom was not fast enough. The pumpkin bomb landed a meter away from her feet. The concussion wave that followed tossed her up by quite a few meters more. Its heat scorched her skin and hair, and the rush of oxygen being consumed sucked the air out of her lungs. She was deposited on the ground shoulder first, rolling to the feet of Venom.

The duo of Speedball and Namorita could claim to truly fight to their last. She could barely stay concious, much less command her painfully protesting muscles to move her an inch. By the way she saw Speedball fail to get on his two feet, she saw no hope in a comeback. Even Fernandez, the cameraman, was down, his camera careening into the stairwell.

The trio of Green Goblin, Venom and Moonstone, were still ready to beat The New Warriors, just in case.

"You know Venom... if you didn't play with your food we would have had this wrapped up minutes ago." Moonstone admonished her companion.

"Heh." Venom gutterally spoke, "They were fun. The guppy girl actually gave me a fight. I'll enjoy her the most..."

"No you don't!" Green Goblin sneered hideously, the charactatures of Green Goblin staring down the much bigger, more feral Venom so much a surreal parody in Speedball and Namorita's conscious flitting minds, "Our boss told me personally to keep them intact. All we have to do is embarrass them."

"I think we already did." Said Moonstone.

"Oh no... not what HE had in mind." Green Goblin snickered, a pumpkin bomb juggling in his hands, "Nitro couldn't do it, so we had to. Now we got to make this look like their fault."

"...when it was yours." Moonstone sniped.

"Oh shut up!" Goblin snapped back. "Nobody will know a thing... except a few hotshot heroes got the CEO and President of Damage Control killed. Now lets wrap things... what the... waitasecond... they're not supposed to be here..."

The Thunderbolts look up at the sky. They see more adversaries up above. Venom turns, and is meet with a quicksilver fast metal shield that impact with the face and drives halfway through his symbiotic jaw. Green Goblin throws his pumpkin bomb. The explosion in midair didn't harm or impede the lasers that shot out at him, hitting him as if being picked up off the ground by an invisible hand. Moonstone herself was caught unaware, and was intercepted by a blurring black streak.

Green Goblin looked up at the source of his fear, his eyes widen in terror at what he sees looming over him, a shadow, an untouchable man.

"Yyyyooouuuu... why did you stop it now?" he said with shaky words, "We were just having fun! Why did you have to break our deal when I was just warming up? You can't just stop it like that! YOU CAN'T!"

In a deeply mechanical voice, the flying man overhead triggered a command. 

"Activate Nanochain."

Speedball and Namorita's lapse into unconciousness was lulled in by the crackle of the punitive Nanochains on The Thunderbolts, silencing the villain group and leaving the Avengers victorious.

An hour later, The New Warriors, The Avengers and the police were still trying to piece together events. The results were easy to interpret. Damage Control Inc. suffered substantial damage to their building. The death toll was already confirmed at four; Walter Declun, Anne Marie Hoag and two security guards on the afternoon shift that were killed by Bullseye. Dozens of civilians were injured as they were in the way of the melee or pelted by debris from the explosions and the fighting. Otherwise, it was under control.

The New Warriors and their cameraman Fernandez were huddled at the first arriving ambulance, their wounds being treated my EMTs. Fernandez had a laceration on his forehead, and seemed to smile even when antiseptic was applied. Namorita's ribs were bandaged up tightly, the ever winding gauze causing her tightening midsection to wince from the claw wounds. Speedball gazed doe eyed at the nurse who applied a cold pack to his concussion, and Microbe was on a stetcher, his leg hobbled, his knee in a brace and his shoulder in a sling.

The Thunderbolts were under SHIELD escort, in the thickest restraints the agency could find. Venom and Bullseye were first to be thrown in; as ex murderers they had the strongest bindings and their own custom dollies to be wheeled away in. The rest were being processed and guarded.

SHIELD carried Green Goblin in a restraint. He struggled against them, but could not wrest himself free. He passed by Night Thrasher while still on his phone. Begging the receiver to hold a minute, Thrasher turned his attention to Green Goblin.

"Care to explain why?" Night Thrasher asked.

The Green Goblin gargled, "I ccccaaannn''tttt." He tried to bark, his face gathering foam and bile as he tried to speak, "It was... a broken deal. It was Stt...rrrraaaaahhhHH!!!!!"

Under great labor, Green Goblin did the unexpected. He bit down hard on his tongue, until his teeth veined and seeped with blood. He spat the blood infused saliva at Night Thrasher.

"THERE! YOU HAPPY?!!" Green Goblin raved, the wild eyes of his alter ego a measuring guide to the depths of his madness, "That should tell you all you need to know! To hell with you! To hell with you and that white horse riding jerk Sttrrrraaaaasssssssssss.."

"Jesus." Night Thrasher bemoaned, deactivating the hold call feature of his cell phone, "Where were we?"

The Avengers were done with the policing action, and left Iron Man to intercept the press. 

"We received a call from The New Warriors well into their attack on Damage Control." Iron Man explained in front of a dozen microphones, "It looks like they took on too much, and The Thunderbolts attacked. We responded in time to contain the situation before it got any worse."

"Mr. Iron Man! Mr. Iron Man!" Ben Ulrich cried out, "Daily Bugle! What was the motivation behind The Thunderbolt's attack on Damage Control, and did it have any relation to the governmental program?"

Iron Man tried best to answer the question, "It is not my expertise, but Damage Control did have some involvement in training and logistics with the US government's various superhuman programs. It could be that they saw Damage Control as a target. The motivations are still unknown."

'And the New Warriors?"

Iron Man paused. "You'll have to ask The New Warriors."

Night Thrasher was barely harmed, but had to deal with the fallout. 

"What?!? They did what?!" Night Thrasher punctuated with anger, "All the footage? They just walked into the TV station and took it? Who did it?... THE SECRETARY OF (& DEFENSE?!?! HOW?!... Did you make a backup? NO?!... There's originals from the broadcast in our recording equipment in the van but... oh Jesus... we can't let that fall into their hands. Sure... we'll have it to you ASAP. Just give us some time. We're all pretty hurt... alright. See you soon. Bye."

Night Thrasher hung up his cellular phone. "Patriot act. They comfiscated our footage at the studio."

"WHAT?!?!" Speedball shot out of the ambulance in a burst of gauze and cotton swabs.

"Look..." Night Thrasher tried to explain sourly, "The studio was pretty quiet about it, but they relented. Tony Stark himself ordered it. Appearantly The Thunderbolts were a government project to reform supervillains, and a few days ago they slipped government control. If word gets out that they jumped their governmental leashes and just had a punch up with some reality tv stars..."

Namorita protested most unroyallike, "That's bullsh..."

"That's our best episode ever, man!" Speedball cried out, "We finally did some good and nearly got killed in the process due to some governmental screwup and we have to get burned by it? What the hell?!"

Night Thrasher shrugged the resigned shrug of the defeated, "That's what I said too, but we can't do anything about it but salvage what we can."

"You're damn rights we have to salvage it!" Speedball slammed his fist against the Ambulance's aluminum sides with an audible clang, "It doesn't matter that what we did here will drive our ratings past even those stupid forensics shows. We worked hard to stand toe to toe with those guys. Who the hell are they to take that away from us? Its bad enough The Avengers had to go act like they saved the day... again. We did all the hard work, and it was our $$ on the line."

"I agree." Namorita muttered. "We risked assassination to go here." 

Microbe added, "And I almost died. We were the ones that risked everything on this. Now what... we watch as Iron Man talks to the press?"

"You have to admit..." Namorita said whistfully as she watched Iron Man, "...he is quite the artful dodger."

"MR IRON MAN! Seth Dreider, New Frontiersman!" Screamed out another reporter, "Is it true that Secretary of Defense Tony Stark's Stark Industries has connections to Damage Control? And is it true that Stark still has connections to Iron Man?"

Microbe perked up. "Hey Thrash..."

"Yeah buddy?" Night Thrasher responded.

"That old lady Anne Marie Hoag... she mentioned Tony Stark. Said he set it up. Got it on my... hidden camera."

"Heh... watch him stumble on that one." Speedball snidely whispered to Namorita.

Iron Man's hesitation was short lived. "Tony Stark's company provides the technology and materials to keep myself running, and as a former Iron Man himself Tony Stark has a vested interest in the superhero community. He has owned shares in Damage Control before, but no longer does so. Still, he has connections with people in Damage Control due to similar contracts shared by the respective companies. However, both the Iron Man persona and Damage Control Incorporated are two things Tony Stark dropped a long time ago, so that there would be no conflict of interest. Thank you." Iron Man stepped away under the flash of a hundred photo camera bulbs. His act seemed heroic and honest, the paragon of justice.

"Bull..." Speedball clucked, his eyes rolled up. "Hey Thrash, can you believe the BS he just... Thrash?"

Thrasher was hunched over Microbe, whom with fleshy jowls spoke all his recollection. When Microbe was finished, Night Thrasher rose up.

"Guys..." Thrasher ordered, "Get the van. Now. Fernandez, with me. Bring the camera."

"Now?" Speedball argued.

"Now." Night Thrasher replied under no uncertain terms, "I'll keep Iron Man busy. Whatever we have in our van cannot be comfiscated. Microbe, see you at the hospital."

"Alright." Microbe nodded, "Good luck!"

"See you later, bossman!" Speedball skipped off, happy their subversive plan was coming together.

Night Thrasher instantly intercepted Iron Man. Both men were in metal armour, but while Night Thrasher's was simple enhancement and gagetry, Iron Man wore a suit that was higher tech than most countries could afford alone. They were worlds apart in their means, and unbeknownst to them worlds apart in their ideologies as superheroes. All Night Thrasher knew was Iron Man was not his friend.

"Good. I was about to ask you for the tape." Iron Man growled, "Hand it over. It's SHIELD property now." 

"What?!?!" Fernandez squawked, "No way!" 

"Do it." Night Thrasher ordered.

"I... huh?!" Said John Fernandez.

"Do it."

Under grumbling and protest, Fernandez popped the tape out of his camera and handed it to Iron Man. Iron Man's repulsors fried to life, consuming the tape.

"Thank you." Iron Man flecked the dust off his gauntlet, "We'd rather not be made so public as you."

"The Avengers saved the day?" Night Thrasher asked skeptically.

Iron Man stared down at the weaker hero, his electromagetic thrust boots hovered him inches from the ground, serving to impose and loom over Night Thrasher.

"If your group didn't recklessly crash into a business office, start a fight with a US Government sanctioned superteam, get people killed in your fight and endangered the lives of civilians, we wouldn't have to help you." Iron Man's cold, featureless helmet's voicebox spoke in cold, mechanical condesention. "Your people screwed up, son. You and your circus freak of a tv show put people in danger. I'm surprised nobody is throwing the book at you."

"We didn't put anyone in danger." Night Thrasher stated, "Ever since Stamford, someone was out to get us. I'm not stupid, I can see it happening. The way pointed to Damage Control and we wanted to ask them personally. We were about to get the whole story until The Thunderbolts came in. Are you going to tell me that was my fault?" 

"Yes it was!" Iron Man countered, "You could have done it more discreetly, not turn it into some sideshow! There were real people down there and they could have been hurt! People did get hurt! Friends of mine! Are you going to tell me you shouldn't share responsibility for those deaths?"

"I do share responsibility, but only because I couldn't save them!" Night Thrasher intensely yelled, "Don't forget that my friends were hurt too! We just wanted answers!"

"You wanted ratings!"

"We wanted some respect!"

"Well look around son! You're not going to get it! It took us to clean up your mess and we'll be damned if we ever do it again, so next time show a little respect and some accountability! Stop whoring yourselves and putting people's lives in danger over your stupid little publicity stunt! People like your New Warriors should go home before someone dies!"

Night Thrasher's eyes narrowed. He never hated anyone more than Iron Man this moment. "What we did, we did for the good of everyone. Nobody was willing to back us except Hollywood. You talk about responsibility and recklessness... well maybe we are slightly. But I led The New Warriors for years, without anyone's help, even when we asked. Your Avengers weren't willing. We didn't have a school like the X-Men. We had ourselves and Hollywood, that's it."

Night Thrasher walked away. Iron Man tried to restrain him by his shoulder, but Night Thrasher brushed it away. 

"One of these days, we'll all have to be accountable." Iron Man argued.

Night Thrasher replied, "Today, we'll get along as best as we can. Iron Man, you should put more trust in us new heroes. You should have guided us, tried not to keep us out of the game. You had your chance to show us the way, but you failed. Don't lose heart in that though. Though you failed to try doesn't mean we can't do our jobs properly. Me... i'm just doing what I can so that my New Warriors will survive.

He turned to face a frozen Iron Man, "In the meantime, trust us to do our job. If your generation put some faith in ours, you'll find that we won't let you down." He waved to Fernandez, "Come on, lets leave." 

When the cameraman and the New Warrior left, Thrasher turned and asked, "Did he get it?"

Fernandez wryly smiled, and withdrew a tape from his pants. "Do they ever?"

Night Thrasher looked at the tape, and chuckled. "No, I suppose they don't. Now lets get to the van before they try to comfiscate that too."

"And... roll it!"

"Namorita... what would you say is the most important metamorphosis in The New Warriors this season?" 

Namorita took the interview question with good humour, the rare smile in her face brightening her turquoise skin. "I would say it is our teamwork. We have worked for years together, but when we did the TV show none of us were very enthusiastic, save for Speedball. It came off on our work. But when we had to fight in New York against The Thunderbolts, we realized that we had to stick together. Nobody else was going to be there for us, and it had to be us together."

"Action! Speedball, would you say that you have changed over the season?" 

Speedball coughed into the microphone. He had still his smart alecky edge, but it was somehow subdued by the question. "I guess... I'm more in control of myself. I look over the group more. After all, I was there through it all. The only one to be there every time. In a way, I'm the keeper of the flame, right? Heh heh... well, I'd say I changed because my priorities changed. It used to be about me, right? Speedball, The Masked Marvel! Well, it's not about me anymore, chasing glory or thrills. It's about the team. Thrash, Nam, Microbe and myself. This season was tough. We had to stick together, and for that I had to man up, you know what I mean?"

"Microbe, there was some issue as to the usefulness of your powers during season one. Do you think you have dispelled some of those myths?"

The camera shy Microbe nervously fumbled with his goggles as he answered. "I was a little shy t'use my powers. Not many people see that my powers can be useful. Bacteria is everywhere. It's just using it properly. I mean, I fought Bullseye and survived! How can anyone doubt the usefulness of my powers after that?"

"Night Thrasher, do you ever think you will get to the bottom of this Stamford mystery?"

"I don't know." Night Thrasher answered the interviewer matter of factly, "And I hope I do someday. I can only do so much. I have some ideas as to who has done it, but nothing solid yet. But you know what? We survived. Bide our time, and he will come to us to try again, and The New Warriors will be waiting..."


	2. Epilogue

**WHAT IF... THE NEW WARRIORS DEFEATED NITRO?**

**Epilogue**

The Washington night was always punctuated by the gap tooth lightings of governmental buildings. It was where politicians and beaurocrats went to burn their midnight oil, the snarl of country politics demanding more than nine to five.

Tony Stark was among those workers, his paperwork constantly demanding his attention. Tonight, he looked over The Superhero Registration Act. In a way, it was his best creation, the start of an entire superhero structure that would revolutionize his alter ego's profession, even the world.

He tossed the paper aside in disgust. What was on his mind was the pedestrian pace of its inception, and all that he tried to do that went wrong.

His thoughts were broken up when he fet a gust from his door.

An armoured man in black and red approached him.

"Night Thrasher?" Tony Stark greeted cautiously, "You know how much trouble you will be in once security finds you?"

Night Thrasher moved silently in the room, the streetlights outside illuminating his armour until it sheened like onyx. He spoke in warning tones, could see that Tony Stark was not as moved as he would like. "No need, Mr. Stark. We need to talk. It's about Damage Control. It's about Stamford. It's about you."

Dwayne Taylor wanted to impress the effect that he knew everything about Tony Stark, and was willing to use it against him. So far it wasn't working. Night Thrasher's bluff held more posture than effect, and Stark knew it."

"Unrelated events." Tony went back to shuffling his papers. "Get out."

Night Thrasher did not move. "I would have thought so too, but the former CEO Anne Marie Hoag of Damage Control mentioned your name. My thoughts were that Declun knew about you too."

Tony Stark reposted, "I owned stake in Damage Control once. Not anymore. I have no involvement with that corporation. I heard their involvement with Stamford was exposed by Nitro's confession. You have your justice. Damage Control is out of business and everyone is caught. Why do you have to try and find more conspirators? You have found them all."

"I would have thought so to." Night Thrasher replied, "And your link to Damage Control might have been coincidence. But then I remember what Green Goblin said to me. He spat in my face and told me that was my answer. He couldn't say who ordered The Thunderbolts after us, but he did leave a hint. He bit his tongue... and some of his blood got on my costume. Therefore, I analyzed the blood and found something interesting."

He produced a manilla envelope from his trenchcoat. It showed a robotic device that looked like a small microchip. "Nanites. Cell sized robots. Stark Industry nanites. I assume they were used to control and subdue The Thunderbolts?"

Stark replied, "That looks like our technology. Its the Nanochain. It is used to control supercriminals."

"Yes, and with some samples of Green Goblin's blood, I could analyze the nanoprobes. It took weeks to figure it out, and friends that knew their way around that nightmarish encryption code it used. We could find the basic programming these nanoprobes were under. Can you guess what I found?"

"And what would that be?" Stark asked, his tone amused, humouring the vigilante.

"I found it quite a coincidence." Night Thrasher answered, "On some times, off at others, when it was consistently on during his incarceration, but flickering off at times, including for a few hours on the day of the fight at Damage Control. This is what the nanites tell me. They are flawless, they never fail en masse, but somehow for a few days they deprogrammed during clean intervals, enough for him to slip the leash. I don't see how this can fail so conveniently. Captured supervillains can't just escape so easily these days. Even The Vault escape was convenient. That tells me there is something more going on."

"And that tells me you are grasping at straws. Last warning. Get out." Stark said unflinchingly.

"It tells me that someone messed with the programming. Someone with access. Someone who wanted something to happen. Someone like you Stark."

"That's it. I'm calling security. Your paranoia has gone far enough!" Stark reached for the phone, "It is just like you to act so recklessly. You have the nerve to break into my office in the middle of the night and accuse me your wild eyed conspiracy? You have no link on me. Now stop this libel and leave before I get security."

Thrasher only smiled behind the mask. He was winning the fight, Tony could only back away or make threats. It left him feeling empowered. "Then you should watch your stocks. Stark Industry was going to make a profit on a certain day, but instead it went down. I noticed a sudden sale of your company's stocks during a certain date, and they wouldn't have sold if you hadn't preplanned it. Was something going to happen that day?"

"GET OUT!" Stark snapped.

"You know what is going on! You know why someone tried to kill my New Warriors! I just want to know what you know! TELL ME!"

"That's exactly what I fight for!" Stark threw the Superhero Registration Act at Night Thrasher. Thrash picked up the papers, looked curiously at the contents, and Tony spoke like thunder, "Decadence! Greed! Unchecked arrogance and a lack of accountability! You've just proven it by breaking into a government building and accusing me of some crimes I have no connection to. Haven't you thought how bad that makes you look? Going where you please, doing whatever you feel like, and turning your exploits into a circus! We're heroes, dammit!"

"Eh?" Night Thrasher would have raised an eyebrow if not for his mask, "You're a hero? You're still Iron Man?"

The revelation didn't trip up Stark in the slightest. He carried on, "We are heroes, and we do not answer to the public. We are just allowed to do as we please, and the authorities turn a blind eye to us. It has gone to our heads. We almost think that we can do whatever we want, and your group is the epitome of this problem. A reality TV show? How seriously do you take this job and the lives of those you protect when you exploit it on national tv?"

"We have to do what we can. It was that or bankruptcy for my organization." Night Thrasher explained, "The Taylor Foundation would have gone down otherwise. Had to do what we can. We still save lives though. What is wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it..." Tony Stark held his hands in his head, "Is that we are still not accountable when things go wrong. When it does... the backlash will be unimaginable. People will lose trust in their heroes, and only remember how they saw themselves as untouchable. All it will take is an innocent life lost at the right time... and people would lose trust in their heroes."

Night Thrasher's eyes widened, "So that was what Stamford was about?"

"No..." Stark replied, "I didn't see that event happening, but I saw what would happen if something like that did. An inexperienced team like The New Warriors would trip a firestorm. You would have been reviled. I would have been trying to put trust in the public for our superheroes again."

Stark pointed to the Superhero Registration Act, "Read it."

Night Thrasher took the next hour to read the paper, under Tony Stark's guidance. His final assessment, "Are you nuts? Enemy combatants? Mandatory identity registration? The Initiative? This is not accountability. It is facism! Is that why we almost died? To get THIS passed through?"

"It is the only way we can marshal our resources and prepare ourselves for the next big event." Stark explained, "Can't you see that this is necessary? We don't have much time."

Night Thrasher handed the paper over to Stark. "That's the problem." Thrash argued, "The solutions you bring up take time to solve. There is no quick fix for anything, try as we might. What you're asking for to do in a year would kill our our freedoms. Our accountability will cost us the ability to work incognito. You would be putting us in danger, more danger than we already deal with. So here is what I propose we do."

Night Thrasher produced a pen out of his pocket, and procured a stack of papers from Tony Stark's desk.

"I propose we talk it over, you and I, about this registration act. I like your idea of The Initiative, but this act would make every superbeing that doesn't join you a criminal. I can't live with that. So we're going to spend all night if we have to trying to make this idea work in a way that sets my conscious right. Are you willing to give it a try, Stark?"

"Night Thrasher could never find conclusive evidence that Tony Stark tried to personally set up the Stamford Incident. The only link, Walter Declun, died in the attack, and all the evidence pointing to Stark Industries was circumstantial. Nonetheless, it was enough to delay Stark's Initiative for decades. Even when the Superhero Registration Act was voted in and The Initiative was started, the efforts of The Taylor Foundation's advocation prevented the conscription of all superhumans and mandatory registration of all superbeings."

"The Initiative was volunteer only, and while Vigilantism was pursued with vigor by the authorities, the heroes that did register were made accountable for their actions and trained professionally. None ever had to be forcefully registered or conscripted."

"We have seen what the world can become when one decision or action, one tiny variable, can change the events in a world. A world with The New Warriors became a safer one, through the trials of youth. The New Warriors helped set events where freedom and safety could be balanced, and the world was better for it."

"I am Uatu, known as The Watcher. What you have seen is just another variable... a what if..."


End file.
